Packaging structure



J. H. ROUSH 2,517,801 PACKAGING STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 6, 1946 6'. 1R VEN TOR. Job/7 I mm Row/7 Patented Aug. 8; 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI' PACKAGING STRUCTURE John H. Roush, Johnson County, Kans. Application September 6, 1946, Serial No. 695,106

1 Claim.

This invention relates to packaging structure and more particularly to package sealing and Op ning means and the primary object is to provide a strip having a coating of adhesive on one face thereof and so disposed as to prevent adherence to that portion of the article that is usually exposed to the strip when application is made, and to provide a rip-cord at that portion which is free from adhesive for tearing the strip when opening of the package is to be performed.

An important aim of this invention is to provide packaging structure having a stri of adhesive coated material wherein one end thereof has a tab or gripping tongue extending therefrom and a rip-cord extending the entire length of the strip, including the tongue and is amxed thereto whereby the user may grasp the tongue and the .end of the cord for tearing the strip when opening of the package is desired and the tongue will tear towards the rip-cord to provide an effective grasping surface throughout the package opening operation.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of packaging structure having a strip of adhesive coated material, so formed as to present a bead of double thickness, integral with the strip per se, extending laterally from the face thereof opposite that provided with adhesive, and disposed throughout the entire length of the strip to present a tearing means that may be grasped by the user when a package is to be opened.

Other objects, equally important, will be made clear or become apparent during the course of the following specification. referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a package, parts being broken away to reveal the manner of applying the package sealing and opening means forming a part of my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line IIII of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of the strip shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an inverted plan view of a modified form of my invention, parts being broken away to reveal details of construction.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line VI-VI of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, perspective view of another modified form of my invention.

In the embodiment of this invention chosen for illustration in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the package shown in Fig. 1 illustrates a magazine and is broadly designated by the numeral 10. It is realized of course, that the type of article to be wrapped is immaterial and that books, papers or any other article requiring protecting stiffener such as cardboards H are more easily packaged through use of the structure about to be described.

A strip or tape ll, made from any suitable material of a flexible nature, such as paper, fabric, cellulose film, etc., comprises a relatively narrow body and as is clear in Fig. 3, a coating of adhesive 16 is placed thereon along the two, longitudinal, marginal edges thereof. Such disposition of the adhesive it presents a void area l8 that is free from adhesive, which area is substantially midway between the said longitudinal edges of the strip M.

A rip-cord or tearing thread 20 is centrally disposed along the area I! and is aflixed thereto by glue or other fastening means and extends the entire length of the strip l4, including a tab or gripping tongue portion 22.

It is contemplated thatthe strip ll couldbe produced for use on spools or reels or be produced in specified widths and lengths in aflat condition as shown. If used from spools, the cutting knife of the dispenser would be specially shaped to produce the gripping tongue 22. As the tongue 22 and the underlying end of the cord 20 is grasped by the operator as shown in Fig. 1, the strip It will tear on both sides of the cord 20 from the point at which the tongue 22 is joined to the main body of the strip M to a point inwardly from the end of the tape l4 and at the straight line of tear adjacent to the cord 20. As the strip M is entirely torn, a positive gripping surface is afforded the user throughout the opening operation.

The manner of applying the tape H is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The portion of the strip l4 having adhesive l6 thereon is folded over the edgespf the stiiiener l2 to adhere the edges wrapped, the cord 20 is disposed between the article It and the strip M. Fig. 1 shows the strip M as one continuous member circumscribing the entire article ID, terminating at the point of beginning with the tongue 22 freely accessible to the operator when the same is to be opened. However, four separate strips may be used if desired and if any of the tongues 22 are covered by the strips that are last applied, these tongues will be available for use after one of the strips I4 is removed since they will not adhere to the surface I0.

In the strip I shown in Figs. and 6, the adhesive coating I02 covers the entire one face thereof and a narrower strip I04 is held in place by the adhesive I02. This strip I04 is of a width suiiicient to protect the entire edge of the article II since it is free from adhesive the same as the area I! of the previously described strip I4, and extends the entire length of strip I00, including the gripping tongue I00. A rip-cord I08 is glued or otherwise fixed to the strip I04 and terminates at the outermost, free end of the tongue I06. The tongue I06 is contoured as shown in Fig. 5 to illustrate that any design that presents a sharp point of merger between the tongue and the main body of the strip is satisfactory, so that the tape will start to tear as the tongue is grasped by the operator.

While the rip-cord I00 is shown to constitute part of the structure illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, it is obvious that this cord may well be eliminated entirely by forming strip I04 from material having greater tensile strength than that of the strip I02. In such construction, the strip I04 serves as the ripping means as tab I06 is grasped by the operator.

Fig. 7 illustrates another form of the invention in which the necessity of a separate rip-cord is eliminated. As in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, strip 200 is provided with areas of adhesive 202 on one face thereof along its two longitudinal marginal edges and an area 204 of non-adhesive. As the strip 200 is formed, it is crlmpled or curled along its longitudinal center to present a head or fold 206 of double thickness on the face of strip 200 opposite to adhesive 20!. This bead 206 extends the entire length of strip 200 as well as beyond one end thereof to form a grip 208. It is clear that the bead 206 may well serve as a grip without the necessity of an additional extension 200 if such is desired.

It has been found desirable to form the tape 200 in this modified form from material such as plastic that will readily fuse upon itself as heat is applied thereto. Thus, when the wrinkle 208 is folded in the tape 200, the opposed, inner faces thereof will fuse together to present a relatively strong bead to serve as the ripping means as it is grasped to tear the tape 200 along the edges of bead 206.

Many uses of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art, in addition to the book illustrated in Fig. 1. One such application is to seal mailing tubes of the character having telescoping cylinder-like sections disposed in tip-to-lip relation. Another is to secure the lid of containers formed in the manner that is common with pill boxes wherein walls of the box are disposed in abutting relation, or for use on conventional cardboard boxes of the collapsible kind having a number of flaps foldable to close the ends of the box.

In almost all of its uses, the packaging structure herein set forth affords the advantage of resealability of the receptacle upon which it is used. The removal of the conventional tape that is commonly used to close various types of boxes, usually damages that portion of the box to which the tape is glued. Use of any form of my invention eliminates such mutilation, thereby permitting continued reuse of the boxes by merely applying another layer of tape over the abutting edges orlip-to-lip portions of the box, each time increasing the strength of that portion of the box covered with tape.

Many advantages will arise from the employment of packaging structure having this invention as a part thereof, and while a large number of important features have herein been set down, it will be understood that those made possible by the invention are contemplated thereby.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Package sealing and opening means comprising an attenuated strip of sheet material having adhesive on one face thereof along portions of each of its two longitudinal, marginal edges; and a continuous, relatively thin ripping element carried by the strip intermediate the proximal boundaries of the said portions of the marginal edges, said ripping element comprising a head on the opposite face of said strip, said bead being formed from a pair of overlapped portions of said strip, said portions having their innermost faces joined together.

JOHN H. ROUSH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,032,026 Roden July 9, 1912 1,180,541 Roden Apr. 25, 1918 1,827,636 Ames Oct. 13, 1931 1,896,400 Gaseltine Feb. 7, 1933 1,917,402 Stevenson July 11, 1933 2,021,860 Kelly Nov. 19, 1935 2,053,529 Nelson Sept. 8, 1936 2,079,328 McBean May 4, 1937 

